Forever Your Loyal Servant
by SmilingChipmunk
Summary: When Rin was young, he brought home a black female pup, but for some reason his father strongly refused letting the dog stay. Yukio was wary too, as subdued the pup was. Now, she walks beside Rin and would do anything to protect the Okumura family...but what he doesn't know about the 'dog' is that when he's not looking, she can change into a human. Well, kind of. Possible RinXOC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ao No Exorcist : 3 I only own my OC :D

AN: Hello! Thank you for clicking on this fanfic :) This is my first ANE fanfic, and I wasn't planning to post it up for a while, but I'm feeling good and decided to go ahead and put the first chapter up. It's rated T because of some violence and a little gore, but I don't think there's anything too horrendous in here. It does have an OC, so if it's not your thing, just click out of it :) Also important, thanks to ChaoticDiamond because much of why I wrote this was based on her support :) Pairings are still undecided, and I'm open to suggestions. This is probably going to follow the anime, I'm not sure yet. I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

Rin first heard the whistle of something flying through the air, followed by a dull thud and sickening splat. He frowned when he turned to see a bunch of teens messing around, in particular a white haired one holding a simple crossbow and notching another wooden arrow. The ground in front of them was littered with pigeon corpses embedded with arrows and he paused with his bike. He heard a whine by his side and turned to look at the black dog at his side. She had sharp ears which were slightly lowered, a slender muzzle, which he knew hid sharp, sharp teeth and incredibly strong jaws. The shiny black fur was thick and trailed out all the way to her tail, which was bushy and a usually very expressive tail, but was now trailing slightly higher than her hind legs. To be honest, Rin had always thought she looked more like a wolf, especially the eyes that had earned the black dog her name: Taiyoume, with her yellow eyes. Most people were afraid of Tai when they first met her, her razor sharp teeth and scary looking beast features screamed dangerous wild animal, but he had never, ever, felt threatened by Tai. He just went with his instincts, and they told him she wasn't going to hurt him.

She cocked her head at him, her body language screaming alert and unsure.

"Yeah, I've got it Tai." Rin leaned the bicycle against the tree. "Oi! What the hell are you doing?!"

The white haired boy immediately whipped around, holding the crossbow right at him. Tai's hackles instantly rose and she bared her teeth with a low growl, scrunching up her muzzle and crouching low with her ears pointed back. Rin barely had time to blink as he heard the whistle of the arrow being released, knowing there was something very, _very_ sharp headed his way. A crunch filled the air as Tai leaped in front, intercepting the arrow and snapping it like a twig between her glistening teeth, saliva angrily dripping down from her growling muzzle as she glared at the brats.

"Easy, Tai. They're not worth getting yourself in trouble. I'll take care of it." Rin moved his foot in front of her front paws, glaring at the teens himself.

"Hah? What an annoying dog, shut the hell up! I'm just shooting down these shitty birds, shut up and watch!" he pointed the crossbow at the flock of birds on the ground, smirking. "Maybe I should shoot your shitty dog too."

Rin stiffened immediately, anger running through his blood and before he knew it, he had punched the snotty kid right in the face, knocking him to the ground and into the fence.

"Why you…!" one of his other friends threw a punch at him but Rin dodged easily, kicking him in the gut, but didn't see the second friend's fist from the side, feeling his head being flung back from the sudden hit. Warm blood trickled down his nose but he took no notice and knocked the crony to the ground with a hard punch.

"What is he, a demon?!" his injured friends ran to the white haired ringleader, pulling him up.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Let's go!" they stumbled away pathetically and Rin scoffed, wiping his nose clear of the running blood with the back of his hand.

"Demon? Who are you talking about? You're more demonic than I am," he glanced at his hand, catching sight of the all too familiar red blood on his knuckles. "Ah ah, I did it again."

A warm lick to his other hand caught his attention, and Tai whined, this time in concern and with a slight expression of distaste, as if she were calling him a hypocrite for losing it at them after scolding her. He pulled his hand away, glaring at her.

"Shut up. You _are _pretty noisy," he sulked, letting his arm drop to his side. "Just what am I doing?"

She ducked her head and looked up apologetically with quite literally, puppy dog eyes, padding over to lick his injured knuckles free from blood and cleaning the injury. "Stop it! H-hey, fine, I get it! Haha, stop, it tickles! Alright!" he pulled his hand back, smooshing her head down with it.

It was always like this since he was small, he would get into fights, and Tai had always been there to help him, lick his wounds and defend him when no one else would. Dog really did seem to be man's best friend. That dog was his companion, and no one was allowed to threaten his friend. He would take down anyone who tried, and it was the same for her, as she had demonstrated before countless times. Unfortunately, this meant that they were both regularly scolded by the old man, and Yukio most of the time too.

"C'mon, let's go home."

* * *

"You lost little lamb, confess your sins and say your prayers."

"I didn't do anything bad!" Rin grumbled, resting his face against his palm.

"Then what's with those wounds?"

"I fell on the stairs."

"Your back is dirty too."

"It was quite a fall."

"What about that nosebleed?"

"I fell onto an insanely hot babe-"

"What?! After her, Rin! Lead the way!" the reverend dashed out of the confessional, all fired up and glancing around wildly. Tai yawned from her resting place beside the confessional, wincing a little as she did so and leaned her head on her paws. This was everyday to her. The reverend had white hair, and a white goatee, sporting round yellow tinted glasses that were hung on a beaded string and bounced around as he turned. He was known as Shirou Fujimoto, Rin and Yukio's adoptive father.

"Liar!" he dashed over and put Rin in a fierce head lock. "You had a fight again, right? Why do you always do this?"

"Let go, stupid old fart!" Rin cried, struggling out of the iron hold to collapse on the floor beside Tai, who looked sympathetic but a little smug at not being told off.

_Stupid dog, aren't you supposed to help me out? _

"They called from your part-time job earlier. They said that they don't need someone who doesn't come back after completing a delivery," he crossed his arms disapprovingly.

"You're saying that as if someone like me could do a decent job to begin with." Rin pouted, sulking a little.

"Don't act like a spoiled brat! One day you'll have to leave this abbey and make your own living! It's my duty as your guardian to make you ready for that! Or will you become a priest and lead the abbey?"

"Who'd want this rotting old church?"

"Father!" the similarly featured boy to Rin, if not for the glasses and three moles on his face, walked in smiling. "I'm finished with the preparations for moving. Now I only have to actually move the stuff."

"Good job," Shirou smiled lightly.

"Welcome back, nii-san."

Tai got up and walked over, tail swinging from side to side softly, eagerly looking up at the teen, earning a pat and a smile.

"Hello, Tai. Did you drag Rin into trouble again?" he gently joked and Tai barked playfully, wincing again as she closed her maw, and Yukio's quick eyes caught it.

"Yeah, she did." Rin hmphed, seeming to sulk more as Yukio bent down to talk to the dog.

"Or was it the other way around?" Yukio smiled straight at the dog but the words pinpointed Rin, who twitched.

"Shut up!" he bit out grouchily.

"Even though they're twins, they're totally different." One of the two priests cleaning the windowsills spoke up. Rin's spirits dropped, it was this same old comparison, every single time…

"The younger one, Yukio, is an athletic genius with amazing grades. This spring he easily got into the True Cross Academy High School division." The priest spoke admiringly.

"While the older one only causes trouble with his dog," The other priest said not without a joking tone.

"Hey, Rin, if only you had just a fraction of your little brother's virtues-"

"Shut…" Rin couldn't quite control the bubbling anger and whipped back. "…the fuck up!"

Blue flames suddenly erupted from the heater, making everyone flinch and the dog jumped back from the loud noise, looking as shocked as a dog could look.

"Whoa…I really need to buy a new heater…" Shirou ran to the heater, seemingly the only one unaffected.

"Revered Fujimoto, you have a guest." A priest informed Shirou.

"Clean up this mess before the service!" Shirou ordered, glancing at Yukio. "Yukio, treat your brother's wounds and…" he waved vaguely but caught Yukio's eyes, who nodded.

"Sure. Let's go, nii-san, Tai."

* * *

"It hurts!" Rin cried, holding his hand out for Yukio to treat. "Ouch ouch ouch ouch!"

Tai watched on restlessly, letting out a sympathetic whine now and again.

"Try to bear with it just a little longer," Yukio said calmly as he skilfully applied the bandages to the injured hand, his experienced hands moving fast.

Rin glanced at the boxes stacked in the room. "Ah, so you're moving to a dorm?"

"Yeah, school starts next week. After fifteen years, it's time to leave this abbey." Yukio smiled fondly. Tai whined a little sadly at this comment, nudging his knee with her nose.

"There there, it won't be that bad."

"So this is the last time you'll treat my wounds?" Rin smiled a little sadly. Yukio cut the bandages, smoothing it over.

"If I become a doctor, I'll help you anytime. If you pay the fees, that is."

"Your dream is to become a doctor right? Keep up the good work, I'm sure you can do it!" Rin grinned and admired his brother's handiwork.

"Don't forget about the fees, nii-san." Yukio reminded. "But will you be alright without me around?"

"What? Are you going to scold me too?"

"I'm just worried, and not just me. Father and the others from the abbey too, not to mention Taiyoume…even though she's your partner in crime. You have fights everyday and you drop out from your jobs after a short while,"

"I'm worried about it too. I know I should be growing up already, but…I really wasn't trying to pick a fight, but they were…" Rin gestured. "They were doing some nasty stuff, and then he insulted Tai, I couldn't-"

Tai barked, looking imploringly at Yukio to help defend his case. Yukio sighed, perking up a little.

"It might be a test."

"From who?"

"God!"

"You're becoming more and more like the old man…"

"Oh, here he is!" A voice came from outside and Yukio glanced at Tai.

"Nii-san, why don't you go out and see what they want?" Yukio suggested.

"Eh? Why can't they just-"

"Just go, I still need to pack up." Yukio said with a smile but an ordering tone.

"I-I get it, what are you worked up about, geez…" Rin sauntered out to meet the priests and Yukio closed the door and turned to Tai, who looked away innocently with the clueless expression, seemingly fixated by something out the window.

"Tai." Yukio slowly called. The dog twitched, still looking away obstinately. "Taiyou." No reaction, except a little quiver. "T—aiyoume _onee-san_."

She whipped around and whined a little and fidgeted around on all fours. Finally, she spun around in a full circle like she was trying to catch her tail, doing a full body shake before retreating behind into one of the side rooms. After a moment of silence, loud cracking noises and stifled yelps floated out from the room, and even though Yukio had heard it countless times, he couldn't help but cringe a little.

"The clothes are in there like usual, Taiyoume onee-san," he called out, pulling tweezers and cotton from his first-aid kit.

"Yeah, I see it…thank you." A slightly croaky female voice called out, as if from misuse and unfamiliarity. "I told you to definitely not to call me that, Yuki." She cleared her throat and a lighter, smooth voice came out, not soft, but with a hint of shyness that came from being called his name for her when they were younger. She had a slightly deeper voice than most girls, not so much manly as verging on a continued howl that formed words. What he called her, she knew it was a ploy to get her to change into a human, but it worked every time.

"Otherwise you wouldn't listen, Tai." Yukio smiled at her, an 'average' 16 year old girl, as she walked out from the room, wearing the baggy blue jacket she always did and the matching cap that was slightly more airy at the top. She wore a loose black t-shirt inside that Yukio knew she had to otherwise she couldn't hide her black tail, and slack jean shorts that went to her knees to accommodate for the tail space at the back. The cap was to hide her black ears, though she never told him where she got it from, it had just been with her from the start, along with the jacket. The first time they met seemed like light years away.

Unfortunately, even with those incriminating features hidden away, Tai had the misfortune of having shoulder length white hair that stood out against the black, which she was now tying up into a ponytail she could fit through the back of the cap, which could eventually be obscured by pulling the large hood over both hair and cap to only leave the cover of the cap showing. The front hid her dagger like yellow eyes the best it could, and on days where worse came to worst, she had to wear contacts.

Yukio hadn't noticed before, but since it had been a long time since her last transformation back into a person, he really noticed how she had grown. She was taller, and looked less like a child, although her baggy clothes hid her curves well. Her face hadn't changed much, still very much sweet when she smiled and adoring expression, but also with a hint of danger and deadliness he had seen firsthand, from the sharp glinting eyes and nose, which he knew was very sensitive and could detect a range of smells even in this form.

The conclusion they had reached for her white hair it was most likely from the stress that 'changing' took on her 'human' body, but since she was a black wolf, the transformation back into the wolf changed the pigment in the hair colour back to black as it altered the very DNA and structure of her body. Yukio vaguely remembered that her hair hadn't always been white, when they were younger, her hair had been a darker shade, leaning towards black and more a grey. As they grew older, it slowly lightened and had now reached a startling white, verging on silver. But everything about her was a 'conclusion', there wasn't much they knew about her, nothing concrete, except for the fact that she was definitely not human, could change into a wolf-or something that resembled that- was some sort of demon and would protect Rin with her life.

* * *

AN: Sorry nothing much happened here, but I just wanted a description and intro down. Uh, also, her name 'Taiyoume' means 'sun eyes', you'll learn more about that later :D I know, another one of these wolf/dog to human changes with the ears and tail on the girl, but I think it's a little different, so give it a chance :) You might like it. If you did, please leave a review so I know if I should continue it, or maybe just give me some feedback or encouragement, that's always fantastical (as in I will dance around the room and kick things over) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ao No Exorcist!

AN: Hello! How are you? Thank you to those who have reviewed :D And alerted, fav'd and stuff, glad you enjoyed! I use first person often in my stories, always for OC, and usually third person for everything else. I certainly hope you'll enjoy this chapter :D

* * *

"Oh, please don't, Yuki! Or else I'll call you Yukio-sam-"

"Yes! Alright, I'm sorry, Tai." he gestured to the seat in front of him, motioning for her to sit down. "Oh, that's right, don't you think it's time to tell nii-san about you?"

"Eh? N-no! W-well, not no but…!" Tai struggled for words and Yukio could see the flustered movements of her tail through her rustling jacket.

"It's fine! It was just a suggestion, you can tell him whenever you're ready. Your tail, Tai." Yukio reminded gently.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I can't get used to controlling it!" she whipped her hand behind her out across her back to grab the appendage in question.

"It's okay, practise makes perfect! Now, open up." Yukio stared accusingly at her jaw.

* * *

I grudgingly placed my chin in Yukio's palm and opened my mouth, looking away ashamedly. Whenever I got hurt, it was safer to treat me in human form because Yukio wasn't a vet, and I could voice where the injury was.

"Ah, I knew it. Father noticed too, was this from the fight?" Yukio used the tweezers to clip against something in my gums, carefully navigating around my sharp teeth, even though I had them clenched. He pulled out a small wooden splinter, bringing it up against the light. I nodded, hanging my head best I could while still being held. "Are these from an arrow? I can see fragments of a metal arrowhead embedded here as well…"

"Howch! Yesh it wath, I washn't carehul enough when 'iting it-howch!" I cried, clenching my teeth together so hard they ground against each other. Yukio grabbed some cotton to dab clean the area that was bleeding and what was left pooled around the bottom of my cheek, and I swallowed it away, long immune to the taste of it.

"I'm sorry, this one was in pretty deep. You don't have to grit your teeth together, you won't cut me." Yukio added and there was a 'tink' as he dropped the fragment on the lid of the first aid kit.

"No! Ish shafer thish way!" I insisted as he sighed and continued to look around my gums. My teeth were hard to handle, as were my extremely detestable ears and tail. I didn't have normal human ears, since the furry ears just stayed in both my forms. It made some things hard to explain, but most of all, I felt like a mutation, a monster, something gross and lacking. Some parts of me were retained when changing forms, and I suppose I was lucky that the things retained were easier to hide, compared with say one paw or foot that didn't cross over properly, or even my entire torso.

Though I did only have four toes on each of my feet, but those were rather easy to hide, but my teeth were absolutely difficult and downright impossible to hide, because while the row of teeth had shortened to fit my human jaw I still retained much of the original structure and shape of dog-well, according to Yukio and ossan, wolf teeth and had long canines that didn't _quite_ fit in my mouth. My bottom lip had developed grooves that the long fangs sat in, and to hide them, I had to draw my bottom lip over them, making me look like I had an under bite. Shirou-ossan had told me to just tell people it was a birth defect, and if they asked more than that or were mean, to just bite them.

"Ah, that's right, do you have total mental and physical control in your other form?" Yukio asked.

"W-well…physhical control, yesh, I've heen in control for a while, hut 'ental…shuntines the shought process is a little weirder." I mumbled.

"Is that so…well, it's normal for you to act a little animalistic when you're…an animal." Yukio finished, a bit delicately.

"Heehee, I guess so." I wasn't bothered when Yukio called me an animal, because it was what I was.

"And how is your 'asthma'?" Yukio asked.

"Mush 'etter, shanks Yuki."

"That's good. Remember to tell me if anything starts feeling uncomfortable," Yukio said kindly. "That should be it, does anywhere still hurt?" he retracted his hand and I closed my mouth, shaking my head.

"No. Thank you, Yuki!" I ran my slightly-longer-and-rougher-than-normal tongue over my gums, but there was nothing sharp.

"Please be careful next time, Tai. If only there wasn't a next time…" Yukio sighed, brushing the fragments into the bin and looking at me worriedly with his bright blue eyes. They were beautiful, like Rin's, and I self consciously blinked. When I was small, I hated my yellow eyes. They were the colour of disgusting bile, and I had always detested looking at my reflection anywhere until I met Rin. Now, it was much easier. No one could call them pretty, or entrancing, but at least I wasn't disgusted by them myself anymore. "I'll be leaving early tomorrow, I won't be here to look after you both anymore. I know you'd do anything to protect nii-san, and that's what worries me. The problem is that you also support his every move, and you'd fight with him to the end."

"Of course I'd-" I began hot headedly.

"You need to take care of yourself too, Tai." Yukio interrupted, but looked at me with such an incredibly sincere look that I was speechless for a moment. "How could I face father and nii-san, and _myself_ if something happened to you?"

"Y-Yukio…" I blinked in surprise, almost not processing his words. I was always so focused on protecting them, because my life didn't matter half as much to me as theirs did, I hadn't even considered their feelings. I guess I just could never believe that I could mean anything to anyone. "I'm sorry, I'll…I'll look after myself as well." I apologised , ducking my head and feeling my tail droop between my legs. But at the same time it wagged softly, because somebody cared. Yukio's tight expression softened and he walked over to pat me on the head. Yukio didn't do that often when I was human, and I smiled happily, tail wagging.

"As long as you understand."

"Yo! Tai!" Rin's voice echoed from the other room and Yukio and I both froze, my tail going rigid. I leaped into the side room hurriedly and Yukio blocked the door quickly. "Yukio, where's Tai? We're going to a job interview! Tai, come here!"

"Oh, there she is! Let's go Tai, we're going for an interview!" Rin waved at the energetic black dog bounding out of the room. "Eh? Why do you have this cap on?" he picked it up by the front off her head and Yukio took it gently from him without trying to seem too desperate.

"Ah, that's mine. Thanks for finding it, Tai." Yukio placed it on the table.

"But I've never seen you wear it-" Tai interrupted him abruptly by slamming a paw into the box he was holding.

"It's a suit Tai, I have to change and then we gotta go!" Rin ran into the other room and Tai bounded after him.

"Good luck, nii-san!"

* * *

Tai let out a coughing bark that resembled dry laughter as she watched Rin struggle with his tie.

"Shut up! What's with this, how are you supposed to tie it?!" Rin pulled the tie off angrily and shoved his hands into his pocket, throwing the tie at her and watching her catch it between her teeth gently. "You can laugh at me when you can tie it!" he scowled at Tai and she made the same laughing bark through her teeth and the tie.

"Thank you for your help."

Rin heard a voice from outside and glanced out the window, Tai jumping up to place both her forepaws on the window to stare outside.

"Really, don't worry about it," Shirou was outside talking to a little girl with short brown hair and large red brown eyes and her mother. "You should be happy. You have your parents watching over you. If you have problems, ask your mummy and daddy first. If they can't help, _then_ come asking us the exorcists."

"It must be hard, to be an exorcist. You have to get rid of things that don't even exist," Rid sauntered out of the building followed by Tai.

"Demons do exist, in our heart." Shirou replied.

"Liar. They just asked to consult you," Rin said sceptically.

"By the way, what's with that get up?" Shirou asked.

"Everyone insisted on me going to the interview, so I borrowed it." Rin adjusted his collar uncomfortably.

"And the necktie?" Shirou questioned suspiciously.

"It's faster without it!" Rin replied way too quickly, not hiding his flustered face very well.

"Heh, you just don't know how to tie it, do you? Give it to me, I'll teach you. Raise the collar and close the button," Shirou ordered, holding his hand out to the side. Tai padded over and opened her jaws to drop the tie into it. He pulled the tie around Rin's collar, guffawing when Rin protested against using the saliva covered tie. "Man, you're only growing up physically…you were so cute when you were little, going 'daddy, daddy' all the time."

"That was ages ago!" Rin protested, going red. "I'm a grown-up now, you're embarrassing me!"

"Grown-up? I can't see any grown-ups around anywhere!" Shirou paused in tying the tie to peer around, finally turning back to chortle at Rin.

"Hey!"

"If it's that embarrassing, show me how much you've grown!" Shirou ruffled Rin's hair, shoving him back.

"Don't look down on me! I'll prove it to you that I can do it by myself! Open your eyes wide and look!" Rin declared, pointing at him.

"That's not how the saying goes," Shirou replied instantly.

"Shut up, shitty old man." Rin sulked after a moment of silence, stalking out of the front gate. "Tai!"

"I'm counting on you, Taiyou. Stay out of trouble!" Shirou leant down to smack the black dog between the shoulder blades. She barked and bounded after Rin excitedly, dashing after his disappearing back.

_They're good children. It would be nice if this could continue forever._

But as everyone knows, all good things come to an end.

* * *

AN: I've always wondered about, you know, kemonomimis, if the furry ears mean they have human ears too? But in this case, it is not pretty at all XP No human ears for Tai. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the stupid dog, Tai.

AN: Hello! How are you? I hope the answer is 'great!' or 'awesome!' :D I guess in this chapter, you see how simple Tai's thoughts can be as a dog XD

I laughed, the ears and tail on my profile pic remind me of Tai, even though mine are supposed to be chipmunk ears and tail XD I really love the artist who helped me draw that, so I'm just publicity publicity publicity, go check my profile page for details :D Hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"No dogs allowed in the building." Tai was booted out of the small supermarket and she saw Rin scrunch his face up in distaste.

"Hey, if she doesn't get to-"

"Woof!" Tai interrupted, sitting down patiently and panting on the spot. Rin grumbled a little but followed the fluffy orange haired lady in.

"_I hope Rin gets the job, he can do it this time, I hope I don't ruin it for him, I hope he doesn't do anything stupid or reckless, Rin can do it!"_

She waited patiently outside, occasionally getting distracted by-

"_Butterfly! That's a pretty butterfly I want to catch it I want to catch it!"_

Tai dashed after the brightly coloured fluttering insect, barking excitedly.

* * *

"Oiiii, Tai! Psst!" Rin jogged past in an apron supermarket uniform and grinned. He was holding a large stack of boxes and lifted his leg to point at the stacks behind him. Tai leaped up and ran towards the boxes, dodging the vision of any workers and ran behind one of the stacks. She ducked her head down and placed her head against the box, running against it to push it with her head out the door. Rin ran past and high fived her tail with a grin. With a final push with her hind legs, the boxes were put into place next to Rin's.

"Boss! This is the last one!" Rin ran up happily, holding the box high up.

"Woof!"

"_Rin! Rin Rin Rin! The wheel stop*, the wheel stop, don't trip!" _

Tai winced as Rin stumbled over the concrete wheel stop, sending the box full of flour flying over the curly haired lady. Tai shook her head and sneezed, rubbing at her noise with her paw, shaking her head.

* * *

"Woo-arughalrblargh!" Tai gargled as Rin ripped the tap off the pipe, sending water shooting out into Tai's face. She shook her fur free of the water, sending droplets flying everywhere.

"Tai…" Rin sighed, watching the owner stare at the dog with contempt, wiping water and fur out of her face.

"No dogs allowed in the building."

* * *

Tai fidgeted out in front of the building when a sudden scent caught her nose.

"_Rin's cooking Rin's cooking! I can smell it, yakisoba, yakisoba!"_

She ran around the building, whining insanely and finally Rin ran out in his apron, holding a dish.

"Tai! Tai, guess what?! I got the job!" Rin said excitedly, fist pumping and jumping in the air. Tai barked eagerly with him, licking his face happily as he put his arm around her neck. "Here, I bet you could smell it!" he placed the yakisoba dish down in front of her and she barked, gobbling down what was in the dish.

"_Delicious, delicious, Rin's food is always delicious!" _

"Woof!"

"Hehehe!" Rin grinned and ruffled her head. "I gotta call Yukio and the old man!"

* * *

"Yeah, she was like 'do your best tomorrow!'" Rin said excitedly into the phone. With Tai's ears, she could hear Yukio on the other end too.

"That's great, nii-san!"

"Thanks!"

"I'm so happy I got some good news before leaving!" Yukio said, sounding happy.

"What are you all in tears about?" Rin smiled.

"There are no tears!" Yukio replied lightly.

"Come home already! Today we're having Yukio's farewell party, so we're making sukiyaki!" Shirou's voice echoed through the receiver.

"Gotcha!" Rin hung up. "Did you hear that, Tai? Sukiyaki for dinner! Alright!"

But Tai was unusually tense, and she sniffed the air.

"Grr…"

"What's wrong?"

"Stop it! Give it back, please!" A young girl's voice ran out across the market parking lot, but Tai's eyes followed not the girl, but the scarf fluttering away from her.

"What, it's just a scarf, let's go help!" Rin jogged up and snatched the scarf out of the air, holding it out to the girl. "This is yours, right?

_Huh? She was the girl at our place earlier. _

Tai snarled at the scarf as it started to move and Rin blinked in surprise as a small creature with red claws and a round green coloured torso yanked the pink scarf out of his hands and ran with it.

"Hey, wait!" he dashed after the creature into the market with Tai sprinting after him. Ignoring the shelves he crashed into and apologising to the people he crashed into, he followed the nimble little…monkey thing through the market. He heard the scrabbling of claws and yelps as Tai slipped on the tiles of the store to smash through the aisles, finally catching up in the end, covered in various food products and lord knows what. Tai jumped up as the monkey creature leapt on top of some crates filled with cans, snapping her teeth at the creature but only catching the scarf. The boxes tipped and crumpled beneath the creature.

"Watch out!" Rin ran over to the little girl and hugged her into his arms to form a protective cocoon around her as the cans came crashing down on them. Her mum dashed forward as the cans barrage subsided.

"Yui! Are you okay, Yui? Yui?!"

* * *

"Rin is late..." one of the priests mumbled, staring at the untouched sukiyaki layout in front of them.

"I'll go take a look." Yukio stood up from the table, followed by one of the other priests. It didn't take him long to find his dejected twin, sitting on the swing seat in the park. Tai rested her furry chin on his knee, consolidating the silent teen quietly. Feeble white light from a nearby lamppost illuminated their figures, throwing faint silhouettes behind them that echoed with their silence.

"You were here after all, all the sukiyaki will be gone. Come on, let's go home." Yukio walked up to his brother.

"Even if I went home, how could I look everyone in the eye?" Rin answered bitterly.

"What's wrong?"

"I got fired. 'We don't need a berserks and beasts like that in the store,'" he quoted sullenly.

"What happened?" Yukio asked concernedly.

"I don't know either!" Rin shook his head in frustration.

"Don't say stuff like that! Everyone was happy that you finally got a job! Why are you so careless?! Explain it so we'll understand!" Yukio burst out at his sullen brother.

"How could I explain something that I don't get myself?!" Rin bit back angrily, and Tai looked up from his knee to stare at Yukio in the eye. She bared her teeth so they glinted in the light, growling a little. Yukio had been with her long enough that he knew something unsavoury and most likely abnormal had happened.

"Nii-san?"

"Sorry…"

"Anyway, let's go home! Father's waiting too."

* * *

The walk home was quiet, only interrupted by the scratching of Tai's claws against the ground. They walked through the gates to see Shirou and a man with the girl they saw earlier in the day talking at the front door.  
"Ah, you're back." Shirou greeted.

"Rin Okumura?" the man asked the approaching group. "I'm Yui's father, thank you for saving her."

The girl peeked around her father's jacket shyly, and Tai hung back as to not scare her, or even the father. She nodded politely and smiled, extending the innocent look to Tai as she grabbed her pink scarf. Tai's tail wagged slowly, and she padded a little closer to the group.

"Her injuries?" Rin asked worriedly.

"Thanks to you, just a few scratches," her father replied.

"That's good." Rin leant over to smile at Yui, who nodded happily.

"She was always a careless child, so she had a lot of accidents, falling from stairs and stuff." Her father looked down at Yui, not unkindly.

"That's not it! She's not careless, she's being bullied! She gets her hair pulled and her stuff taken…" Rin interrupted agitatedly.

"Did you see it?" Shirou asked immediately.

"What was he like?" her father pushed forward.

"I've never seen anything like that before...small, with a face like a monkey…" Rin flailed, thinking hard.

"What?!" Yui's father growled and stalked off, pulling her after him.

"Where are you going?" Shirou called after him.

"I'm going to call the school and get them to punish the ones who bully Yui! Or else…"

"That's not it!" Yui interrupted, pulling back on her father's arm. "It's not humans who bully me! It's evil ghosts!"

"Ghosts?" Rin murmured.

"In the night they come to my room and torture me, lately even outside of my room…"

Yui's father sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Yui's always had a lively imagination, I've heard these tales many times, but recently her imagination and reality get mixed up too often."

"It's not her imagination!" Rin began hot headedly.

"Rin!" Shirou warned, but he took no notice.

"Why can't you believe her? If not even her parents believe her, who can she depend on? Get it toge-"

Shirou stopped Rin mid rant with a rough push downwards on his head, walking past him.

"What are you doing?!" Rin cried indignantly, grabbing at his head. Shirou ignored him pointedly and kneeled down to face the little girl, pulling out a little clear glass bottle from his pocket.

"It's a four leaf clover charm, it should protect you." He smiled calmly at her.

"Thank you…" Yui took the charm tentatively.

"Don't blame her, please. She counts on you, her parents, the most." Shirou told him sincerely. He looked down at his daughter after a pause and let out a small breath.

"Let's go home, Yui."

She nodded and they thanked Shirou, turning around to leave the abbey.

"What's with that, did he actually accept that?" Rin rubbed his head.

"You're a thousand years too early to scold others. Also, Rin…and you too, Tai, you're not allowed to go out for a while!" Shirou ordered.

"Huh? Why?" Rin exclaimed while Tai pawed at the ground sulkily.

"The boss from that shop came by earlier with this!" He whipped out a piece of paper and shoved it in Rin's face. "It's a demand for the shop equipment and goods you two destroyed!"

"What's with this?!" Rin gawked at the paper.

"Rin! You're not getting any sukiyaki!"

"Ah, why?!"

* * *

"Goodnight, nii-san." Yukio smiled and climbed up the ladder of their bunk bed, before almost getting pulled off again by Tai nipping at his leg. "Ah, yes, yes. Goodnight to you too, Tai."

"Night, Yukio." Rin replied and Tai barked softly. There was a soft flump as Tai jumped onto the end of Rin's bed, curling up near the end of it after circling the area padding it down with her paws even though it was already plenty soft, stabbing Rin's feet with her nails a couple of times in the process.

"Oi, Tai!" he protested but her warm furry body curled against his rather cold legs and he grumbled it off, pulling his covers up and lying down in defeat.

"Tomorrow is gonna come quickly, and then you'll be off, huh?" Rin folded his arms behind his head on the pillow.

"Yes…make sure you take care of yourself, nii-san." Yukio reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Rin grumbled, turning to the side.

"And make sure you take care of Tai too, alright?"

"Of course, isn't that obvious? Anyway, she's our dog, so of course she'll be okay. She's been with us all this time, don't you think she's gonna get lonely without you? She totally loves you…" Rin muttered the last part a little sulkily. It's not that he was jealous of the dog's attention to Yukio or anything, because he spent a lot of time with her too, but the dog was always so happy and smitten to see Yukio, he wouldn't mind if occasionally-

"Pfft!" Rin blinked when Yukio stifled a laugh.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?!"

"Nii-san, are you jealous of Tai's attention towards me?" Yukio asked lightly, a smile evident in his voice.

"No! Who would get jealous of a dog's attention?!" Rin kicked the mattress of the bunk above him for emphasis, but from the softness of the impact he knew that Yukio had expertly dodged it.

"Tai is nice to me, but I don't think you have to worry about her favouritism, nii-san." Yukio replied.

"Hah? What's that supposed to mean?"

"We should sleep, goodnight."

"Hey, don't ignore my questi-fwugh!" Rin was interrupted by a giant furry paw slamming down on his face as Tai got more comfortable curled around his torso, sprawling just above his stomach so she could lean her face where his diaphragm was. "Argh! Every night, Tai! Every damn night you do this!"

Tai made a deep content grumble in her throat and nuzzled further into her sleep spot, and Rin slumped back sighing, letting his arm fall on her neck and muttered 'stupid dog'. After a while, the deep and slow breathing of Tai, and the calming quiet hush of Yukio's top bunk lulled him to sleep.

* * *

AN: Haha, I like when Tai ignores Rin and just-literally-walks all over him. You think it sounds stupid, but I definitely know that feel of being jealous of a dog's attention. But my dog and I are best pals, so HA, in your face, other family members. Thanks to those who have reviewed, fav'd, alerted and stuff, you guys are great and boost up my motivation to write so much :D

EDIT: So I noticed that there's a random asterisk up there...yep, that's there for a reason, but I forgot to put the note down at the bottom, 'cause I is a genius.

*wheel stop being that thing at the front of car parking spaces, the thing that Rin trips over. So never fear, it's not some weird punctuation mess up :D


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the fantastic ass kicking Ao No Exorcist/Blue Exorcist!

AN: Hello! How are you doing? Hopefully brilliant :D Sorry for the slow updates, I will try hurry it up XD I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Rin was woken by a whine beside his bed and he opened his eyes sleepily to see Tai sitting beside his bed, wagging her tail. He sat up and yawned, stretching and greeting her with a brisk pat on the head. She padded over to the table and jumped up, placing two paws on the desk. He walked over to it and read the note on the table:

_**The stuff I sent yesterday will be arriving in the morning, so I have to leave early.**_

_**Take care.**_

_**P.S Don't make father worry anymore!**_

_**Yukio. **_

"Heartless, at least say goodbye." Rin sighed, scratching his stomach idly. He flung open the curtains and stared blurrily outside. He continued trying to rub his eyes clear of the black dots in his vision. When the dots didn't disappear, he peered closer at them and realised there were tons of them, little insect like black creatures flying by the window.

"What the-" he choked and ran outside, Tai barking excitedly and following behind. "What are these, bugs?" He ran up to the front door of the abbey, watching the smattering of black bugs spread out through the street.

_Why doesn't anyone care about them?_ _Oh!_

"Tai, can you see them girl? Those weird bug things?" he asked to the dog, sighing when she just sat there, scratching her neck with her back leg.

_Well, what was I expecting…?_

"Hey, Okumura! Are you free now?" the white haired, crossbow happy teenager he and Tai had confronted the other day came waltzing up with his lackeys. Rin knew he wasn't supposed to go out and stared at the gate line warily. Tai whined and growled slightly at the approaching teenager.

"Are you scared, Okumura?" one of his lackeys taunted.

"Do you want to hide under your mummy's skirt?" another one added mockingly. He didn't break his steady stare at them and began to step over the threshold. He was jolted to a stop as he felt jaws pulling at the bottom of his pants and Tai's high pitched whining.

"Let go, Tai." He angrily jerked his pants out of her jaws, ignoring her whimpers and frantic scampering near the gate.

"_No, no, Rin, we can't! We can't! Don't go, don't go!" _

"Go back if you're scared," he bit out bitterly at her. He admitted he was a little peeved at her reluctance to follow him, just because they were warned a little by the old man…it's not like it hadn't happened before, so why wasn't Tai covering his back this time?

_Whatever. It's not like I had never been alone before I met Tai. _

He strode away and followed the backs of the group. Tai scrabbled past the boundary line reluctantly, running after Rin before skidding to a stop.

"_I have to tell Ossan, he needs to know now, now, now!" _she dashed back into the building.

* * *

"Oh, Tai! Where's Rin?" Shirou greeted the black dog heartily, but she payed no heed and gripped his sleeve with his teeth, shaking it wildly. "Whoa now, what's wrong?" she kept on dragging his sleeve, her claws scrabbling for purchase and pulling backwards, yanking her head backwards.

"Hey, hey, you're going to tear it! Tell it to me, Taiyou!" he impatiently flicked her forehead. He was expecting her to run into the closest closet or confessional or any sort of room, instead he did a double take as her black fur started to retract right there, sinking back into her 'pelt', while bones, muscles and sinew twisted and rippled beneath her skin, cracking loudly into place as she gritted her teeth in her muzzle that was shrinking to stop the yelps of pain. The fur on her head changed to white slowly and elongated and fell over her shoulders, while her back legs lengthened. The end result? A naked teenage girl sitting on the floor, still resiliently holding onto his sleeve with her teeth.

"Wha-Taiyou, what are you doing?!" Shirou covered his face and (most of) his eyes, as if he could contain his blood vessels in his head. Her hair fell over her body so it obscured most of her bare body, but she was much less focused on that.

"Ossan, Rin! Rin! Rin left with someone _bad_!" Tai pleaded quickly, grabbing his hand.

"Why don't you call me jii-chan anymore? You were so cute…" Shirou lamented, running off on a tangent. Tai growled, shaking his hand violently.

"_Shirou-ossan!_ Rin!"

* * *

"Mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours, give them after the work of their hands, render to them their desert. Smite them and let them not rise again," Shirou chanted confidently, approaching the horned, white haired, possessed individual. Tai bounded after him, growling menacingly at the boy.

"You…you're an Exorcist?!" he roared angrily. Shirou grinned boldly and continued to speak self assuredly.

"Blessed be the Lord…"

"Old man…Tai!" Rin almost forgot about the painless blue flames fluttering about his body as his father and his dog approached.

"I will seal that mouth of yours, so you can no longer spout your curses!" the possessed boy growled, black pointed tail whipping through the air as he dashed for Shirou.

"You have heard my curses, the Lord is my strength-" Shirou calmly dodged a wild lunge and grabbed his arm, flipping him over on to his back with little effort. "-and my shield. Thou shall perish!" He drew a cross in the air forcefully towards the boy, who screamed as black essence burst out of mouth, which eventually stopped and he slumped over unconsciously.

"Are you okay?" Shirou asked a dazed Rin, letting go of his arm. Tai approached the knocked out boy cautiously, sniffing at the motionless body and then barking briskly at Shirou.

"Y-yeah, rather, is he okay?" he asked.

"The demon has left him, he should wake up later." Shirou answered calmly.

"Demon?"

"You can see them now too, right?" Shirou idly blew the floating black bug away.

"These…" Rin brushed the drifting bugs off his clothes hurriedly, while Tai snapped at them with her teeth, making Rin's eyes widen when she chomped into it and swallowed.

_She can see them…!_

"These are Coal Tar, it hangs onto dust and gathers around dark places and evil humans. This world consists of two dimensions that face each other like mirrors. One is our material world, Assiah. The other is the nothingness of demons, Gehenna. These two worlds are separate and are not supposed to interact at all, but they possess the material of this world and interact with it. Stand, this incident has revealed to them the truth about you, there will be those who'll come to hunt you down," Shirou said seriously.

"What do you mean-"

"We don't have time, you must hide before that."

Tai dashed over, nudging Rin's back to urge him to get up. As she came closer, he blinked because it felt like…it felt like she was a tiny bit bigger? And since when was her black fur so spiky and her claws, her teeth look so much sharper?

"Wait a sec, I don't get it!" he shook his head clear. "Demons, what are they? What am I?"

Tai's insistent head butting stopped, and now just panted quietly.

"You are not human. You are the child of a demon born of a human." Just as Shirou stopped speaking, Tai barked and Coal Tar seemed to congeal around them, wiggling wildly. What looked like greenish moss and bubbling mixtures that emitted gas began to simmer and fizz on the surfaces around them. "And not just any old demon either. The demon among demons, the evil god, Satan's child."

* * *

_Ever since I was small, I knew I wasn't good._ _All I wanted was for people not to see me as a 'demon', a monstrous child. _

And here he was, running away from these _things_, because he _did_ have demon blood inside him. Shirou dragged him along, holding his hand as he cleared the air in front of them of the black bugs, only having a chance to glance back once to see Tai bounding after them, almost roaring at the Coal Tar, and the strangest thing was, it was working. The bugs scattered at her bark, and she kept running after him.

"Let's go!" Shirou yelled and without hesitating, jumped over a huge gap between two buildings.

"Are you serious?!" Rin cried, following without losing speed and feeling his stomach drop as he flew across the expanse, landing on the edge but suddenly tipping backwards because he didn't have enough momentum. He swear he almost heard an exasperated growl as a furry head slammed into his back and shoved him forward into Shirou, who caught him. He fell to the ground panting, watching Tai land lightly beside him. He glanced up and his eyes widened when he saw the numerous decaying dog corpses.

"Are these stray dogs? They stink!" Rin gagged and pinched his nose.

"They're Ghouls, demons that posses dead bodies." Shirou explained.

"Ghouls?"

"We're lucky that we're in Japan, otherwise human-form Ghouls would've shown up too." Shirou said matter of factly while glancing at the advancing dead beasts.

"Are you calling this lucky?!" Rin asked disbelievingly. "Wha-a bomb?!" he cried as Shirou proceeded to pull out a grenade like object.

"Don't worry!" Shirou grunted as he hurled the grenade into the midst of the pack, waiting until it exploded into mist and sent the dogs flying back before grabbing Rin's hand and running for the door. "It's just holy water." Rin could hear the growls of the dead animals getting back up from their injury, even at the yelps and sounds of limbs falling off the weak carcasses. Shirou dashed through the door, pulling Rin after him and slamming the door.

"Huh? Wait! Tai's still out there!" Rin immediately grabbed the door handle to yank it open and let his dog through, but Shirou grabbed his wrist, turning to speak through the door.

"Taiyou, I'm counting on you!" he said, grinning when a loud bark was returned, followed by fiercer snarls and the sound of flesh being ripped apart.

"There're those Ghoul things out there, what do you mean counting on her?! Tai's gonna die, she's just a normal dog…" Rin trailed off, really thinking about the events of the day, and Shirou looked at him. "…Isn't she?"

"Heh, I'm getting a bit too old to protect the kids…" Shirou shrugged in reply.

"Who're you calling a kid?" Rin replied as a knee jerk reaction.

"Let's go home while we can." Shirou started down the stairs.

"Do you mean this isn't over yet?" Rin asked disbelievingly.

"I told you, they'll be coming for you. The sun is setting soon and that's when the demons get active. We're lucky that Tai does too."

* * *

AN: Heyoooooo! More mystery, huzzah! Epic fighting scene? Probably not XD but lots of fun and discovery next chapter :D

**As a side note, **I've been posting this up with all my stories as a question, I've been wondering, is it worth it to create a **facebook account** of sorts for the fanfic stories I have? To post up updates, statuses, and pics, stuff like that, because I juggle a shitload of stories and I have pictures upcoming that is just easier to share on facebook :D This way I'll also be able to update with statuses and how the stories are coming along. Anyway, I'm just worried you might not be bothered or something like that, and it'd just be a pointless page XD In any case, I put a poll on my profile in order to help me decide, so please help me out and go vote there! :D Thanks to the reviewers, alerts, favs, you really are all amazing and make me so happy :D


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Hey ho, I don't own ANE!

AN: Hola, m'dears! How is everyone? I sincerely hope very well! Sorry for taking so long to update, but I'm going to be slow like this for most of this year D: Because I'm in year 12 this year, so I'm going to be outrageously busy and it's a ridiculously important year! But if you do want to keep updated or anything like that, I have a facebook page now! (WHUUUUUT That's so ridiculous XD) So if you want, you can just head over to my page and check the link out :)

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

As Rin ran after Shirou and approached the house, he heard the familiar sound of Tai's claws against the pavement.

"Tai!" he cried happily, turning to greet her. As she bounded closer, he felt his jaw dropping as she seemed to grow in size.

"What the hell?!" His jaw just about hit the floor as she skidded beside him, running in pace with him like usual, except she was _almost bigger than him. _She was an unusually big dog, but now she was ridiculously, abnormally large, not to mention fiery yellow red flames bursting from her paws, like she was on fire but the flames never whooshed past her mid leg. The floor she landed on smouldered and burned to a black, embers flying around her paws and the ground. It cracked and crackled, disappearing after a while. "Old man, what the hell happened to Tai?!"

Shirou barely spared a glance at the giant dog, no, it was definitely a wolf now, and kept running.

"She's a demon," he replied calmly, breathing a light sigh of relief as the house came into view.

"Whaaaaat?! But I thought demons couldn't-"

"It doesn't matter now, I'll explain later!" Shirou cut him off as they slowed at the front gate.

"Welcome back!" the priests greeted hurriedly.

"How are the preparations?" Shirou asked immediately.

"We got rid of the Coal Tar," the priest answered. Rin quickly followed them in, pausing only because Tai had stopped at the entrance.

"Tai, what are you-guh!" He jumped, taking a deep breath.

_Shit, she's huge, I can't get used to it! _

There was dead flesh in her jaws, and her eyes were a scary red, while blood was splashed against her fur, slowing drying on it.

_This is Tai, this is Tai. _He reminded himself, she wasn't some sort of monster!

"What are you doing?" he continued after a pause. She hesitated at the gate, and finally stepped through, and suddenly yelped, sinking slightly while her flames dimmed. "Are you okay?"

She bared her teeth, shaking her head and howling hard at the moon. She was panting hard, tongue lolling out of her mouth and the sliver of white in her eyes was showing. He blinked in surprise as she lowered her head, eyes now a mixture of yellow red, jerking her head as if to nod a few times.

"We've drawn threefold barriers around the monastery," the priest continued while walking fast to keep up with Shirou.

"Double it," Shirou ordered. "We're being chased by Astaroth's minions, pour triple C strong holy water into the sewers! Don't let a single one get in."

"Understood!"

* * *

Rin stared in absolute shock and betrayal at the purple blue sheath of the katana in his hands. There was a smooth intricate white symbol on the sheath, but his brain wasn't calm enough to admire it.

"Everyone knew about this? That I'm not human, that I'm the offspring of a demon?!"

Shirou's silence said everything. "Why did you keep such an important thing a secret all this time?!"

"I could raise you only if you were human. You were allowed to live on that condition, despite the demonic blood running through your veins," Shirou said.

"Condition…?"

"I raised you as a human and that's why I've told you nothing. Nothing about the secrets of your birth." A loud crash interrupted their conversation and Shirou quickly ran up the stairs.

"Come!" he ordered. They ran up the stairs to see a battered truck rammed into the church, dead dog Ghouls limping in and little Coal Tar trickling in.

"I have come for you, young master." The horned demon sauntered in, grinning wildly. "Let us head to Gehenna together." He swung his arm back and flung it forward, making it stretch forward to grab Rin's leg with a black taloned hand, pulling backwards and making Rin fall on his backside. Tai snarled and sunk her jaw into his arm while another priest flung holy water at him. He sizzled and screamed in pain, releasing his hand. Shirou yanked him up, dragging him back behind the structure.

"The demons' attacks will weaken when dawn comes. Get out of here and hide somewhere where the demons can't find you!" Shirou grabbed his shoulders.

"Hide? Where?"

"Take my phone, there's only one number in there. It belongs to my best friend, call him as soon as you leave the monastery. I'm sure he'll protect you." Shirou shoved him down the stairs, making him land at the bottom in a heap. The hiding structure was pushed back over the opening before he could get up and he immediately scrambled for it.

"We're not done talking yet!" he yelled, pounding on the hard wood. "Let me out, damn geezer! Let me out!" he pounded on it, disregarding how much it stung his knuckles.

_I'm…a demon. I'm really…_

* * *

Tai growled fiercely, crouched and ready to pounce on the approaching Astaroth. Shirou cocked his shot gun again, frowning at the transformed demon, with leathery brown skin and sharp teeth, exploding out of his clothes because of his size.

"I'll tear every single one of you apart!" he snarled. A sudden pitchfork end whistled through the air and slammed into the demon's shoulder.

"I said we're not done talking yet, you damn geezer!" Rin said angrily.

"Young master, what are you doi-" the demon moaned from the ground. Shirou slammed his foot into its chest, pointing the shot gun nozzle at its face.

"O Lord, bind a millstone around its neck so that it shall never again rise from the depths of the Leviathan!" he chanted.

"S-stop!" it cried.

"Chain it in darkness eternal, where it will not hear nor see!" Shirou pulled the pendant around his neck and the demon shrieked, black mist flying out of his mouth before a normal colour returned to his skin and the horns shrunk.

"Nagatomo, get the car ready," Shirou ordered the brown haired priest leaning against the wall, who got up with a wince.

"Yes sir!"

"Izumi and Kyodo, put the Seal of Tetramorph on this boy, and don't forget to perform the purification ritual," he ordered the other two injured priests.

"Yes sir." They replied.

"Taiyoume, go outside and finish off anything still lingering." Shirou gestured and Tai bounded out the door.

"Wait, we should treat their wounds first!" Rin called.

"Our first and foremost priority now is to hide you. Realise that you're the target of the demons!" Shirou reprimanded.

"I see…so if I leave it'll all be over?" Rin glared angrily.

"Rin!"

"Then I'll leave. That should make you feel better," Rin said bitterly. Tai jogged back into the church, biting a crow like monster in half and tossing it to the side. She slowly shrunk until she was her usual size, narrowing her eyes as she evaluated the situation. Shirou ran forward and grabbed the brash Rin's arm, trying to stop him from storming out. "Let go of me, you'd throw me out anyway! I've been a problem child all my life…no, we're not even really related, just strangers!"

Tai whined, whimpering slightly underneath her breath. "Just be honest! You got tired of pretending we're family! Or can't a clergyman talk like that? Maybe you want to play a good father to the end? Don't screw with me, you're not my father or anything. Don't ever call yourself my father again!" Rin yelled furiously. Tai's bark echoed with the sharp slap that resounded through the church. Rin's cheek grew red and his eyes were wide in shock.

"It's almost daybreak, get ready," Shirou said tonelessly.

"…Fine," Rin finally muttered. Tai padded up to Shirou, whining softly and licking his hand. All of a sudden, her ears perked up and her fur stood on end. She whimpered as Shirou dropped to the ground, backing away slowly.

"Oh no…" Shirou panted.

"Reverend Fujimoto!" the priests cried, running over.

"Don't come closer! Get…away from me…" he groaned, and Tai ran in front of Rin but sunk to the ground, fur visibly trembling as the lights all shattered, showering the hall in glass and darkness.

"What's going on?" Rin ducked down and placed a hand on Tai's head. A slow, victorious voice laughed through Shirou's body, his voice sounding disjointed.

"At last I've got this body!" he cackled. Rin ran forward, ignoring Tai's feeble pawing at his feet.

"Hey!"

"Finally, I can meet you my son!" Shirou grinned, his mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. "Or whatever!" he laughed hysterically, blue flames exploding all around him.

"What's wrong with you, old man?!" Rin yelled.

"He's possessed! Satan has taken over his body!" one of the priests explained.

"What?!"

"Exactly, I am Satan, the god of Gehenna and your real father. You can call me 'Daddy' if you want,' he screeched mockingly.

"Reverend Fujimoto!"

"Shut the hell up!" he glared, setting the surrounding priests on blue fire. "Don't ruin this touching meeting, I don't have time for that." Even as the demon-possessed-Shirou said this, blood ran down his eyes and nose, his human body clearly suffering under the tremendous pressure. There was sickening crunch that made Rin wince, looking away and Tai whimper again as he broke and dislocated Shirou's fingers. "I am too strong for Assiah, so you can't bear my presence for long."

The blood from the injury dripped down his arm and formed a large black square on the ground.

"Not even this man's body, nor your mother."

The black square began to bubble and churn, grotesque faces emerging from the dark goo. "This is the Gehenna Gate!" he gestured to the blinking, _living_ intricate structure that was the gate. Tai whined again, ears shivering and essentially plastered to her head, catching the demon's attention.

"What is this? A little guard dog? No, you're…" he paused, and Tai exploded into her gigantic size, flames bursting from her entire body momentarily, a stark comparison to the ominous blue. She snarled and leaped forward, snapping her jaws warningly at him, waving a paw as if to knock the demon out of Shirou. "Gahahaha! I know what you are! My little puppy, one of the litter of my beautiful hybrid shape-shifter hellhounds! So this is where you went, no wonder you didn't join your brothers and sisters in Gehenna! What a great coincidence, I can make two collections today! First my long lost son, and now my pet, come! Let's go back to Gehenna!"

* * *

AN: Eurgh, 'hybrid shaper-shifter hellhound', what a damn mouthful! That's never going to be called again...I hope XD

Anyway, I hope that's intriguing enough to keep you reading XD Thank you so much for doing so up this far, and I am really thankful to the reviewers, story followers and fav's, you guys are amazing as usual!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimerrrrrrrr: I don't own Ao No Exorcist!

AN: Hola! How are you? I hope you're doing awesome! Sorry for the late update, but BAM here it is XD I genuinely felt quite nao;aifj;ijd;ajf;ek;afje awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww w mannnnnnnnnn when Rin had to go through this, and I tried to do this moment justice, but...

Well, anyway XD *wild hand movement* TO THE STORY! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Tai was frozen momentarily, but howled and lunged at him again. He spun to stare at her instantly, a feral grin on his face.

"Submit, little mutt," he snickered and held his palm out towards the advancing hound. Tai seemingly slammed into an imaginary wall, ears and tail dropping instantly, sinking to the ground and whimpering. She was trembling with effort, shivering and convulsing on the floor, trying to free herself from the command. "You are my pet, you cannot disobey me, or I will have to punish you!"

"You bastard, what the hell do you think you're doing to Tai?!" Rin yelled, kneeling by the dog's side. "Don't come near us, stay away!" he roared, blue flames exploding around him and engulfing his body. Satan's only response was to cackle hysterically, clutching his stomach.

"What was that? Did you wet yourself? Pathetic, take back your demon powers already!" he grabbed Rin roughly by the jumper, dragging him towards the gate. "Follow, my pet!"

Tai whimpered and gingerly got up, trotting after the blue flames, her red ones small and meek.

"Tai, what are you doing? Don't listen to that guy! Let go of me, I'm not a demon, I'm a human!" Rin struggled.

"You have the blood of the God of Gehenna, yet your body is of Assiah! You are special." With that, Satan tossed Rin onto the churning mess of the gates, and Rin felt the gate suck him in like quick sand. Feral, beastly faces emerged from the howling faces of the gate, occasional wings, claws, slimy appendages and even human limbs clawing through. They were screaming, mouths wide open in monstrous, insane and uncontrolled beastly instinct. They were absolutely feral, howling, contorted, not hound, not human, a horrendous mixture of the two, and sometimes _other _things.

"Join your brothers and sister, my pet!" he cackled, the beastly limbs lunging upwards. "Rule in Gehenna as my mighty damned guard dog, keeping the freaks in order and under my command…my hellhound, alongside your master!"

* * *

It wasn't that I couldn't control myself, but it was like I was compelled to obey him, and his presence was so amazingly oppressive that it felt like all the air was being choked out of me. His voice was all commanding, demanding and I _just couldn't disobey. _I guess in that sense, I couldn't control myself. _Hellhound, guard dog, shape shifter, hybrid, what is he talking about…?_

The smell was overpowering, like I was wading in a pile of the dead, and…my 'brothers' and 'sisters' howled in anguish.

"_Come with us!"_

"_Rule us, sister!"_

"_Discipline Gehenna…"_

"_Save us…kill me…" _

I cringed at their agony and hysterical thoughts, some undecipherable and just howling. Their claws, paws, wings, tails, latched onto me, yanking me in as Rin was tossed in beside me into the gate. Whimpers and barks hissed passed my teeth, but pain suddenly flashed into my body as Satan roared. "Silence! You should be thankful, you filthy mongrel, that anyone even wants you!"

Rin shouted as the muddy substance in the gate began to drag him down, making him sink like he was in a disgusting puddle of quicksand. "That was a nice scream! Today you will be reborn as a demon!"

"Someone! Tai!" Rin lunged for the katana a few meters away, glancing around wildly at the unconscious people around them. I whined, sharp teeth gritting together and pawing at Rin's sleeve hopelessly. "Help me!"

"Happy birthday, my son!" he laughed maniacally again, blood dripping down his face. Suddenly, I felt the pressure on my body release, and my mind was clearer, letting me take control over my body. That could only mean one thing.

"_Ossan! Are you okay?" _I barked, not that he could understand. I swivelled to see Shirou blink and grab the sharp, colourful metal weapon around his neck.

"That's…not…" he whispered, gripping the necklace and suddenly plunging it into his chest. My heart sunk into my stomach and my mind went blank as my struggling ceased. Rin's movements stopped as well and there was a sharp intake of horror. "That's _my _son, that's _my_ daughter, and you'll give them back!"

I froze, my large furry body moving sluggishly.

_Daughter…does Shirou-ossan really think of me as a daughter? A monster like me? _

I looked at the man who had been my master, my mentor, my teacher, and yes, my punisher for all these years…but also my father, _family. _

"_Shirou-ossan!" _A loud anguished howl erupted into the air, and it took me a while to realise it was me.

"You filthy exorcist!" Satan roared one last time before he lost strength in his human vessel, the blue flames extinguishing as he fell forward into the mess that was the gate. "Taking your own life, what a worldly priest you are! But it's too late…the Gehenna gate won't let go of anything!"

* * *

Rin shoved his way through the gate, finally reaching his father.

"Old man, get a hold of yourself!" he cried, struggling to pull him out of the gate. Tai waded through the gate, tearing her way through the gate. She pulled on Shirou's sleeve with her teeth, whimpering the entire time. "Damn it!" Rin cursed, unable to sluggishly yank them out of the quicksand. He knew what he said wasn't fair. When he was at his lowest point, convinced that all the other names the parents and the children called him were true, Shirou had been there to laugh away his troubles, and to reassure him. There was always his comforting hug or back to lean on, and the steady, reliable padding of Tai's paws on the ground, the reassurance that Yukio would always be able to become a _somebody_, that he was always there to treat his wounds. He saw flashes of red, like Tai was trying to muster up the energy to pull them out, but he could feel her fur trembling and straining.

_That's enough! _

He searched and finally managed to find and grab his sword, pulling himself up. Enough of other people sheltering him from the truth, people hurting themselves trying to save him, protect him.

"Koumaken…" Rin stared at his last resort, the blue sheathed demon slaying sword.

"Stop, Rin! Did you forget what Reverend Fujimoto told you?! If you draw that, you'll…" One of the priests that had regained consciousness yelled.

_I don't care!_

"Old man!" he said through gritted teeth. Like hell he was just going to stand there and let his old man die and best friend sink when they still had so much to do! "I haven't shown you anything yet! Don't die on me!" he twisted the sword in his hands and drew it, feeling a sudden rush burn through his body as blue flames exploded around him and power poured into him like liquid fire. He vaguely registered the sensation of his teeth and ears elongating and a new feeling, like an extra limb behind him. He swung his sword down against the gate, fighting against it with his own power and watching the blue flames disintegrate the gate like it was flimsy cloth. The loud roar of noise and wailing dimmed and slowly dripped to a silence, all signs of the gate disappearing. The flames slowly died as sunlight slowly filtered into the church with the sunrise and Rin dropped to the ground, sheathing the sword. His dad was gone.

It felt like there was a piece torn out of his heart, something empty that couldn't be filled and all he could feel was an overwhelming sensation of loss and regret. He barely registered that he could hear a new voice echoing over his grief, had the voice not been equally agonised.

"_Shirou-ossan….Shirou jii-chan!" _ a female voice yowled. Rin could see Tai nudging his neck with her nose. _"Please wake up, you can't die! You were always the strongest!" _

Tai whimpered, licking lightly at his hand. Rin felt hot tears run down his face as the ache in his chest took over, holding onto the sword for some sort of support so he wouldn't collapse.

"_Please don't die!" _ A long, anguished howl filled the air as Tai sat beside the still priest, her head thrown back in the continued cry of pain.

"Dad…" he sobbed, not caring about the free flowing tears.

"Nii-san? I heard Tai, what's going…" Yukio trailed off as he peered around the wreckage and saw the body and the carnage that was the church. Rin heard Yukio run past and the throbbing, insistent pain only increased with each second that passed, along with the howl that never seemed to end.

* * *

Tai was curled up on the cold, wet, ground beside the gravestone, leaning her head on her paws in front of the grim stone. She hadn't done much but that these days, and barely responded to much else other than Rin's own half hearted attempts in order to get her to move around. Yukio just left her be. Rin hadn't had time to think about what she was, and there was no one really to explain to him anyway. The old man…he said he would explain, but he was…

Rin stood beside her quietly, the sword tucked away in its red cover and slung across his back. It was raining insistently, which made it easier for Rin because he had no more tears left to cry but there was still so much hurt in his heart, so the rain…the rain could handle it. He stared at the cell phone, dialling the one number in the phone his father had left him. As the phone started to ring, he jumped slightly when a cheerful ring tone cut through the heavy rain and atmosphere near him. When he glanced up, he was suddenly surrounded by numerous people in black. Tai merely eyed them from the corner of her eyes, blinking the yellow, dull eyes slowly before looking back at the headstone. She slowly got up and stepped sideways closer to Rin.

The voice in the phone picked up and Rin glanced around when a voice in real time echoed with the cell phone.

"Nice to meet you," a flamboyant, jovial voice said. There was a beep as he hung up and Rin stared at the weirdly dressed man in front of him. There were pointed ears protruding from under his hat and sharp teeth glinting with his grin. He was purple haired and had a purple goatee, with a white top hat on that had purple along the inner rims. He wore a white cape and suit, dotted with colour and well, dots. He had boots on, and striped tights underneath pants that reminded Rin of clown pants. The inside of his white cloak was a dark purple, and his umbrella matched with his attire. "I represent the Japanese branch of the True Cross Order. My name is Mephisto Pheles. I was Reverend Fujimoto's friend, please accept my condolences."

"Are you exorcists too?" Rin asked, tucking the phone away.

"Indeed, and we know everything about you and your little…pet. It seems Reverend Fujimoto tried to raise you as a human, but contrary to his wishes, you awakened. It appears to be pure coincidence that you stumbled across this special little hellhound. The son and pet of Satan wandering around Assiah is a threat of extinction to humankind. In the name of the Vatican, we are to dispose of you," Mephisto said calmly. In response to this, Tai's ears instantly pricked up and she crouched a little.

"Weren't you supposed to protect me?" Rin protested.

"I'd prefer not to mix public and private matters." Mephisto's grin widened. "You have two choices left: Be killed by us, or kill us and run away, like your dog seems to prefer. You could also kill yourself, so actually that makes three choices. Now, which one would suit you best?"

Tai growled fiercely, being the most active she had in days as her fur bristled and she bared her teeth. He looked at Mephisto equally fiercely and placed a hand on Tai's head, trying not to let it tighten in anger.

"Make me one of you! I don't care what you say or what you think, I'm not the son of Satan and Tai's not his pet! My father is Shirou Fujimoto and no one else!" Rin growled at them.

"I see. So you want to follow Reverend Fujimoto's dying wish? But think about it, what would you do if you became an exorcist?" Mephisto pointed at Rin questioningly.

"Kick Satan's ass!" Rin declared angrily. Mephisto's eyes widened, and he stared at Rin. After a pause, he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"What? Like Satan's son becoming an exorcist? This is great! I haven't had such a great laugh in a while!" he laughed, clutching his stomach.

"I'm serious!" Rin protested insistently.

"Interesting! Very well!" Mephisto said heartily.

"But…Sir Pheles!" a man dressed in black behind him objected.

"Really?" Rin said disbelievingly. "But wait, what about Tai?"

"If she is a _good dog_, I am willing to discuss this further. This is a measure beyond the law…however Rin, the path you've chosen is not a simple one. One day you'll have to face your fate and you'll regret not dying here." Mephisto grinned. Tai barked heatedly, lunging forward threateningly. Mephisto leaned forward and caught her snapping jaw, easily stopping the maw from coming anywhere near him and leaning down to grin at her. "Don't worry, you'll get your turn too, but for now be a good dog and _sit._" Tai's entire body trembled and she retreated back a step to sit on her hindquarters, still baring her teeth. Rin distantly noted that she obeyed, despite being so mad.

"I don't care, I'm not a human or a demon anymore. I have no choice but to go forward. I'll become an exorcist!"

"Well, for now we will have to take your dog." Mephisto gestured, and the black clad men moved closer to Tai. She glanced about wildly, looking at Rin for guidance.

"What? No!" Rin moved across to block the men from using the collar and leash to hook around her neck. "You can't take her!"

"This is but a necessity, if you want her to stay alive." Mephisto shrugged and shook his head. Rin hesitated, looking at the dog. Tai glanced at Mephisto and the collar, finally peeking at Rin. She nudged him aside and walked to the collar, teeth snapping together a little when they put it in.

"Taiyou-"

"Excellent choice! Never fear, your dog will be relatively safe."

* * *

AN: Bwah, Mephisto! You crazy clown! Literally! I find him quite hilarious, actually, and a little morbid. BRILLIANT. Don't you just love funky, messed up clowns? Because they scare the living shit outta me XD I will chop you if you come close to me as a creepy clown.

Thank you so much to the reviewers, alerters, favers, you guys are freaking awesome! Let me give you an extravagant twirl jump hug! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee please don't hit me XD See you next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own ANE! It would be bloody hectic if I did! Why would I write fanfiction if I owned it?! WHY?!

AN: Heyoooo! Dear mother of god, this is a late update! As are all my stories, I am actually so saddened! I have no time, what is time even oh my lawdy ;_; I am so sorry, but it will be very slow allllll agonising year long, and you will see my sanity disintegrating even further than it already has! AWESOME :D But dayuum if I didn't want this chapter out, so I certainly hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Man, that one-man clown act is _late_!" Rin complained, peering into the distance. "And Yukio's not here either. Tch, that clown better not have done anything to Tai." He stood on the sidewalk, looking around in his casual hoodie and pants, sword slung across his back in its red cover. Deep in thought about his dog and little brother, he shoved his hands in his pockets, oblivious to the oncoming traffic, that is, the conspicuous pink limo approaching at break neck speed.

"Hey!" A voice rang out and he was suddenly pushed, or more accurately, _tackled_ out of the way of the car that would've had his face embedded in the windshield.

"Whoa!" he cried a little too late, hitting the concrete hard and a memory instantly resurfacing.

* * *

"**Haha, here! Yukio, pass it here! C'mon!" Rin shouted, jumping up and down in excitement. **

"**Uh…" Yukio adjusted the ball in his hands, shying away from the black pup jumping excitedly, trying to get the ball. **

"**If you don't hurry up, Kuro-chi will get it! Come on! Do you even know how to play piggy in the middle, Yukio?" Rin chortled, clapping his hands in impatience. **

"**I do! But we have to go back soon, Father will know we're playing with it if we stay out too long…and we shouldn't be here with it to begin with…" **

"**Grr! Don't call her 'it'! I don't get why you and Dad are so against Kuro-chi! She's such an awesome dog!" Rin grumbled. "Fine, just throw the ball, it'll be the last one, okay?" **

"**O-okay!" Yukio hurled the ball in Rin's direction nervously, throwing it too far and over Rin's fingertips as he jumped. Kuro immediately came bolting towards him excitedly and Rin yelled, running off in front of her. **

"**Ah, too high, Yukio!" he snickered, running for the ball that was bouncing across the road. His shoes pounded against the road asphalt and he heard the approaching scrabbling of Kuro's paws after him. "If Kuro-chi gets it you're still being the piggy!**" **He snatched the ball up, grinning as he tightened his grip on it victoriously. **

"**A-ah! Nii-san! Don't run onto the road!" Yukio cried, just as a loud honk of a car rang out right by Rin's ear. He barely registered the large hunk of metal and screeching of tires that was the car in the corner of his eye before squeezing them shut and bracing for the impact…that came from behind him instead, sending him flying forward out of the car's way and onto the asphalt in front of him. A horrible crunching of metal and the sound of glass shattering filled the air, and Rin didn't dare open his eyes because it was accompanied by a heart wrenching yelp and Yukio yelling-**

"**Kuro!" **

* * *

Rin shook his head, clearing it of the memory and ruffling his hair.

_Geez, what a thing to remember…that was right before the old man let us take Kuro-chi…well, Tai now, into our home and we gave her a proper name. Why did we change her name anyway? Something about the old man saying it was unoriginal or taken…_

Finally coming back to real time, he slowly sat up, slowly registering the ache in his back from the impact, the humming of the car engine and the girl sprawled in his lap.  
_Wait. Girl sprawled…_

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed, hands flailing as he looked at the tangled but unmistakeably female body slowly pushing herself off his lap. She crawled backwards a little, kneeling between his legs and readjusting the blue cap-_have I seen that hat somewhere before?_- underneath the similarly coloured hood of the baggy jacket she had on that was zipped up, making it so that barely any of her face could be seen. A small part of him noted her weird white hair colour that was showing slightly.

"Hu…" she sighed in relief. "Are you okay?" she leaned forward and asked in a concerned and slightly husky voice, a tiny glint of yellow and something sharp catching Rin's eye, from beneath the cap.

"Y-yeah…" Rin tried not to get flustered, sneaking peeks underneath the cap. She jumped up energetically and dusted herself off, the cap angle indicating her eyeing the pink limo a little angrily. "Uh, are you?"

"Huh? Oh, yup! …B-be more careful, please? I-I'm not always going to be here to get you out of the way! Though I'll try my best," she said light heartedly, offering a hand and a grin, her nervousness only obvious through her slightly trembling hand and stutter. When she met his eyes, he felt like she was a lot more happy than a normal person was supposed to be, and grabbed it with a slight tentativeness and mild embarrassment.

"…Thanks…" he cracked a bit of a grin, just before she yanked him up so hard he thought she ripped his arm out of the socket.

Not a lot of people had managed to almost dislocate his shoulder before, but he'd say that this random girl probably came the closest. He rubbed his arm in confusion, because normal people weren't supposed to be that strong. He knew that first hand.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously, and she immediately stiffened, a little flustered as if she had never been asked that before.

"Um, well, my name is…" she finally raised her head enough that he could see her face properly, and Rin blinked in surprise. Her eyes were a buttery yellow, a little golden, and a little familiar. She had sharp canines that rested like fangs on her lower lip that refused to stay inside her mouth, but he didn't feel threatened at all as she smiled. Even though the fangs were sharp and looked dangerous, nothing about her scared him.

_She's…she's kinda cute…_

"Hakurou Fujimoto, I'm so happy to finally meet you! Please just call me Haku, though!" And then she gave the widest smile he had ever seen, and it was honestly quite easy to believe she was genuinely ecstatic to meet him, and it put a slight blush on his face. Who had ever greeted him with such enthusiasm before?

"I'm Rin, Okumura Rin!...Wait, isn't your name…"

"A boy's name? Oh my, what a sunny day!" Mephisto cheerfully exited the pink limo, adjusting his conspicuous purple hat. "A beautiful clear day to accompany you on your new journey!" With over familiarity, he placed both hands on Hakurou's shoulders and pulled her in front of him. "The person who named her had a sense of humour, obviously."

"Hah…you mean you, Pheles-san…" Hakurou mumbled tiresomely, readjusting the cap on her head.

"You guys know each other?" Rin asked in surprise.

"Why, of course! I make an attempt to know all my students!" Mephisto replied jovially, shaking Hakurou lightly.

"Students? Where are we going?"

"To True Cross Academy, of course!"

"True Cross Academy?"

"Exactly! You know, to the general public, I'm the principal of the Academy! And thus from today both of you will be students of Academy as well." Mephisto leaned over Hakurou's shoulder to come uncomfortably close to Rin's face.

"Sorry for the wait! I'm glad I don't have to separated from my dear nii-san!" Yukio called out, walking up to the car. Rin caught a sudden movement in Hakurou's jacket, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at the weird movement at the back of her jacket, when she dashed out of Mephisto's hands and ran to Yukio, jumping up and down on the tips of her toes.

"Yuki! Hello!" she said excitedly, to the point where she almost ran around him in circles. Yukio smiled kindly and waved, readjusting the skewed cap on her head from beneath her hood.

_They know each other? Really well, too…I should know most things about Yukio, and definitely if he met a girl! What else has he been hiding?_

"Hello, Haku-san! Thank you for going through all this trouble, Faust-san."

"Faust? Weren't you Mephisto?" Rin and Hakurou both turned to Mephisto with confused expressions.

"Johann Faust the Fifth, it's the name I use in public," he whispered dramatically to the two of them. "Now let us head to my True Cross Academy!"

* * *

AN: WHAT THE SHIT WHO THE HELL IS KURO-CHI AND HAKUROU heheheheh it's Tai. Sorry for the confusion, but I guess it was time for some background on how Tai actually got accepted into the family! It's a long, slightly stupid, slightly serious, slightly ifoa;sfinan story, but I hope you'll like it :D

Hakurou means something along the lines of 'White Wolf' or 'Spirit Wolf' kekekeke Mephisto is a twisty clown with an equally twisted sense of humour (hence the Fujimoto last name too XD) Ahhhhhh Tai is super mega nervous to meet Rin! Stoopid gurl XD

In any case, thank you so much for reading! Thank you to the alerters, fav...ers..., and reviewers! Reviews really help with feedback and inspiration and motivation, and most of all, a lot of self confidence, so thank you so, so much! But don't get me wrong, I love my lurkers too, and I see every story alert and fav too, I love you all very much! I'm just happy you guys like the story! Until next time, keep onnnnnnn smiling!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I've yet to own anything XD

AN: Hellllllo! How are you all doing? I'm so sorry for the late chapter (as usual ;_;) but but but but it was definitely fun writing and getting back into it! Especially since Tai (or sneaky sneaky Hakurou) can meet Rin now and she's all happy and Yukio's all studious and Rin's all...Rin-y. Yes. Rin-y.  
...Moving on.  
Thank you for being patient! I hope you enjoy the chapter :D

* * *

I fidgeted in my seat, sneaking glances at Rin and Yukio, my heart beating so hard I was certain the entire car could hear it over Mephisto's whistling.

_This is the first time I've ever met Rin in my human body! I finally got to talk to him!_

I smiled happily, feeling my tail wag through the seat and abruptly stopping it when I realised. Yukio sat beside me, reading calmly as usual.

I had been worried before, since the way I had landed in this situation hadn't exactly been on my terms, but now…I couldn't describe the happiness coursing through my body to be able to meet Rin like this. Thinking about it…how did I end up here?

* * *

**I scratched at the uncomfortable collar with my hind leg, not liking how it felt restricting. I sniffed the air and backed away as Mephisto walked up to me, putting a bundle of clothes near my paws. I growled, hackles rising slightly as he approached. **

"**I know what you are, so if you would." Mephisto placed the tip of his umbrella on the ground in front of him, holding the handle with both hands. "I promise I won't peek." He didn't turn away but only closed his eyes with a giant grin on his face. I barked at him, growling deep in my throat. **

_**It's my only choice, I have to follow Rin. No matter what I am. **_

**I focused my mind on my human shape and form, and felt the changes slowly take place. The cracking eventually stopped and I pulled on the clothes he left for me. I was shocked to see familiar clothes, like my hat and my jacket, but the other clothes were completely foreign. Colours I had barely even seen, such as pink were mixed in. **

"**I-I can't wear this!" I shook my head, pulling the white shirt down over my underwear because I had yet to put on the bottom half of the clothes, a skirt of some sort. The ragged collar still scratched at my human neck and it felt even more uncomfortable against my human skin. **

"**It is school protocol, I can make some exceptions for you but…" he shrugged smugly. **

"**Pheles-san, I can't wear this! If you know what I am, you know it's very hard for me to hide my tail in a skirt! Why do I need to wear this to be with Rin? All I need to do is be able to follow him, I don't need to stay as a human!" I protested, slow panic building in me to the point where panicked tears almost started to flow. I tucked my tail around me ashamedly and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. **

_**I can barely hide my tail…I can barely hide anything…everyone will see…!**_

"**You need to understand, 'Taiyoume', you are not a family dog. You are an experiment, one of many. As a hellhound hybrid, you obey Satan and the family of Satan to the ends of the earth. Do you know your role in Gehenna? You keep the demons in line as his guard dog, and you are a feared species in Gehenna. If you were to run rampage by orders of anyone with a Satanic bloodline in Assiah, the results would be disastrous. In order to prove you can be of use to the True Cross Order, you must first prove you can control yourself in both forms and that your strength **_**will**_** in fact come in handy, instead of being a burden. Then, and only then, will you be able to serve by your…master's side full heartedly," Mephisto explained extravagantly. "And is that not what you want? To be able to protect your family, your 'masters'? Some sacrifices must be made." **

**My teeth ground together angrily but Mephisto only smiled wider as I growled. **

_**Using my own rules against me…**_

"**Fine! Rin and I…we'll show you!" I put on the remaining skirt and slammed the cap on my head. "But Mephisto, don't make the mistake of thinking Satan can make me listen to him **_**ever again. **_**Rin and Yukio are my only masters. I listen to them, and them only!" I glared at Mephisto, hands clenching angrily because I didn't know how confident I was in my own words. I suddenly caught myself, waving my hands. "O-oh, I'm terribly sorry, I meant Pheles-san!" I blinked, covering my mouth as I tried not to appear too flustered. Mephisto only grinned, shaking his head graciously. **

"**No, no, don't worry. It will surely be entertaining," he chuckled deep in his throat, "watching you attempt to keep to your words." **

* * *

I shivered slightly at the memory, it had taken place not long after Mephisto took me away from Rin. His words were so foreboding, but only made me feel more stubborn.

_Hmph. I will protect them!_

"The hell…" Rin muttered suddenly, under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Yukio asked.

"Ah, nothing…by the way, where were you this morning?"

"I visited Father's grave. Did you go too?"

"No…"

"Too late to do anything about that." Yukio smiled reassuringly and went back to reading as they exited the tunnel they were driving in. Natural light instantly poured in through the car windows and I turned around immediately to kneel on my seat, staring outside the window excitedly.

"We'll soon arrive at the centre of True Cross Academy Town," Mephisto informed us.

"Woooooow!" I couldn't help the amazed cry that escaped my lips, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Mephisto gesture at the driver, and a second later, the window rolled down in front of me and I had to hold onto my cap to make sure it didn't fly off with the gust of wind that buffeted my face. The hood of my jacket flew off, and my hair whisked around me in a refreshing blast, and for a second, I completely forgot the presence of anyone else. I laughed, tongue almost hanging out as I stared at the massive, grand building in the distance. It was like a cake mountain, layers upon layers of detail and colourful buildings stacked upon each other until it slanted to the acropolis of the mountain. I started laughing with half my body hanging outside, letting the fresh air wash over me, loving the air on my normal, _human_ skin, whipping through my _human_ hair, enjoying the world as a _human._

* * *

Yukio felt a tiny smile adorn his face as he heard the clear laughter of Tai-well, 'Hakurou', from outside, an odd feeling of fondness washing over him. It was pure, innocent laughter, not forced, not fake, simply…happy. It was rare to find that kind of laughter among teenagers like them these days, and even less from his mouth. He looked out of the corner of his eye and quickly cleared his throat, making Tai look behind. She immediately started panicking and retreated into the car, as the wind and her lack of self control had sent her skirt and jacket fly dangerously high up to almost reveal her tail. While both him and Mephisto knew about her, his brother was still blissfully unaware, and that was what Tai wanted until she built up the courage to tell him.

He adjusted his glasses, thinking to himself. He knew that she most likely understood that his brother would accept her, with _that_ kind of personality. He knew that it would okay. But he also knew she was afraid. Very afraid. Afraid of rejection. Afraid of everything that his brother had suffered, isolation, violence, but most of all, to be discarded by someone she so dearly treasured. He and Tai had never had that problem, since he had known what she was from the start. Her personality was also simple, sometimes timid, but always cheerful and energetic. Not once had he ever been threatened by her presence…

The only time he had ever been worried was when…when was it…the…rats?

_That's right, Tai has a severe phobia of rats…we'll have to be extremely careful about that. If __**it **__were to happen again…I fear the consequences. Father isn't here to control her anymore…_

"A-ah, thanks!" Tai said to him, while quickly throwing her hood over again, worriedly glancing at Rin, who hadn't noticed and only grinned at her laughter.

"Welcome to True Cross Academy!" Mephisto gestured grandly.

"Awesome!" Rin cried, twisting to look out the window.

"This is the Academy Town with all of our educational institutions. Please study to your heart's content!" Mephisto introduced, peering out the window proudly.

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading, and of course, to the reviewers and alerters and favers, you guys make my day! Feedback is always awesome, but I'm happy if you enjoyed reading :D I'll see you soon! Hopefully XD


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